Indian Wells 2023: Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Brandon Holt preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (Q) Thanasi Kokkinakis vs (WC) Brandon Holt

Tournament: BNP Paribas Open

Date: March 9, 2023

Round: First round (Round of 128)

Venue: Indian Wells, California, USA

Category: ATP Masters 1000

Surface: Outdoor hardcourt

Prize money: $8,800,000

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel/TC Plus | UK - Amazon Prime Video

Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Brandon Holt preview

Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis will square off against American wildcard Brandon Holt in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday (March 9).

World No. 94 Kokkinakis made a bright start to the season, reaching the semifinals at home at the Adelaide International 2 in what was his second tournament of the year. On his way to the last four, the Aussie beat the likes of Andrey Rublev and Miomir Kecmanovic before losing to Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets.

Although his Australian Open campaign ended in a five-set defeat to Andy Murray in the second round, the 26-year-old bounced back soon after. Kokkinakis won five matches en route to lifting the trophy at the Manama Challenger.

Kokkinakis played the qualifying rounds of the Indian Wells Masters this week, winning both his matches in straight sets. He will now hope to take that form into the main draw of the season's first ATP Masters 1000 tournament.

Holt in action at the 2023 Australian Open

Son of former US Open champion Tracy Austin, 24-year-old Brandon Holt has been steadily making progress in the last few months. He made noise at the 2022 US Open, where he knocked out American No. 1 Taylor Fritz in the first round on his Grand Slam debut after having qualified for the event.

He qualified for the Australian Open this year and won his first-round match against Aleksandar Vukic in five sets. The youngster was shown the door in the second round by Agut, though, in yet another five-set battle.

Holt has since gone on to win four more matches in five other tournaments across the ATP Tour qualifying and Challenger levels. The World No. 193 has been awarded a wildcard for the BNP Paribas Open.

Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Brandon Holt head-to-head

Kokkinakis and Holt have never crossed paths on the tour before, so their head-to-head stands at 0-0.

Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Brandon Holt odds

Players	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games (Over & Under)
Thanasi Kokkinakis	-350	-1.5 (-135)	Over 21.5 (-135)
Brandon Holt	+260	+1.5 (-105)	Under 21.5 (-105)

(Odds sourced from BetMGM)

Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Brandon Holt prediction

Kokkinakis serves at the 2023 Australian Open.

Kokkinakis comes into this contest as the higher ranked and more experienced player. The Aussie has also been the better of the two this season, giving him an edge in this duel. Kokkinakis has already played two matches at the Indian Wells Masters, which should give him a fair idea of the conditions, putting him at an advantage.

The World No. 94 has a huge first serve and has struck 15 aces so far, 11 of which came in his first round of qualifying. In that match, the Aussie brought his power-packed tennis to the fore, ripping 37 winners past Yuichi Sugita and winning 90% of his first-serve points.

Holt, meanwhile, is a powerful baseliner who has good footwork and is strong from the back of the court. The American has so far shown superb tenacity and resilience and will look to fight till the end in front of his home crowd.

While Kokkinakis has an aggressive game, he often tends to give away easy points through unforced errors. Holt does have it in himself to ruffle his opponent and put him under pressure through his patient shot-making. Kokkinakis is prone to losing his way at times, but given the form he has been in this week, he's likely to take the win.

Pick: Kokkinakis to win in three sets.